Nothing is as it Seems
by IIyana
Summary: Hoping to make some new friends and bury her past Reimi moves to Stardew Valley. Things seem to be going well until her past starts to catch up with her and she's forced to choose between keeping it a secret or telling her new friends. It doesn't help that shes torn between the loner who lives in his basement and the town drunk.
1. New Face

I stared out the window of the rickety bus. I was on my way to Stardew Valley per my grandfather's final request. It had been a pretty hectic year and I hoped moving out here would prove to be a good decision. The bus screeched to a halt and I breathed a sigh of relief as I stretched my legs. The bus ride had taken about 3 hours and I was bored, anxious and very stiff.

Pulling my bag from the overhead compartment I made my way off the bus where a tall woman and an older gentleman greeted me. They showed me to the plot of land I was going to call my own and made some quiet banter along the way.

When we reached the farm I raised an eyebrow as I looked around. Everything was run down, the place was drowning in weeds, there was some kind of shack in the distance that had fallen into horrible disrepair. I sighed inwardly and tried to absorb everything the two were telling me before they bid me goodbye and let me enter the house I was staying in. The outside looked pretty bad but the inside was nice and simple; there was a kitchen a small bed and a bathroom. It was very bare and I was fine with that. I threw my duffel bag onto the floor and wandered into the bathroom to see if thew water was running. After I turned the knob there was a weird bubbling noise and then the water gushed out. First it was brown and then it quickly started to run clear and I decided this was as good a time as any to take a shower and get the musty bus smell off of me before heading to bed.

* * *

I woke up pretty early the next morning and crawled into the kitchen. I was hoping for food but I knew within my heart of hearts that were wasn't going to be anything. Thankfully however my grandpa did leave me some money. I dug into my bag to pull out a pair of shorts and a shirt before tying my long midnight blue hair into a high ponytail. Taking a few steps into the kitchen, I filled up a cup of water and took my medicine for the morning before going outside.

I wandered into town and found that it was relatively quiet which felt relaxing and also kind of eerie. Walking around slowly, I took mental notes of some of the buildings the blacksmith being a prime candidate. I rounded the corner near the saloon and nearly ran into a very rough looking man. His hair was messy and looked like it was rarely combed and he looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. Or at all. Stubble had started to grow on his face and it looked like he didn't care enough to shave it but cared _just_ enough to not let it grow into a beard. He wore shorts and a torn up blue hoodie with a J on it and a lime green shirt under it. He glared down at me with piercing green eyes but didn't say anything.

"Hi." I said cheerfully trying to ease the tension I felt.

"I don't know you. Why are you talking to me."

I tilted my head slightly and knitted my brows. "So I can get to know you?" He huffed and walked around me and I followed in stride beside him. "I didn't catch your name."

"Didn't throw it."

I rolled my yes. "I didn't mean it literally." I noticed him raise an eyebrow but remained silent. When we reached the cobblestone bridge I stopped and he didn't. I tried to ignore the building on my first go around the town but I couldn't shake the feeling it gave me. Shuddering, I turned around right as he walked into the building.

A few hours passed and I had gotten groceries and decided to try to clear the weeds out of my yard. I had barely scratched the monstrosity that happened that overtake the yard. It was getting late and I was getting pretty tired so I decided to call it a day. While walking up the stairs to my front porch, I remembered the mayor telling me that everyone got together on Friday at the saloon and decided that it might be a good time to introduce myself.

After taking another shower I slipped on a pair of leggings and a button up shirt and brushed my hair. I decided to let it stay down instead of putting it up into its usual ponytail. Taking one last look at myself in the mirror I spun and smiled before heading towards the saloon.

Slowly I pushed the door open and was greeted with a large round of laughter and I felt a sudden warmth fill up my body. "Hey its the new girl." The woman behind the bar smiled at me and waited for me to approach.

"Hi!" She said excitedly once I had sat down.

"Hello." I replied with a wide grin pushing some hair behind my ear.

"So what will you be having tonight?"

I shrugged. "What do you recommend?" She gave me a big smile and walked away and I couldn't help but return it. Was it contagious? I'm not sure but I couldn't say that I didn't like it.

"I'm Emily by the way." She said laying a drink down in front of me.

"Reimi." I held my hand out and she shook it.

"That's a pretty name. I like it." I chuckled at her words and heard a grunt beside me and it took everything I had not to jump four feet in the air. He was sitting beside me sipping on a beer. I took a sip of my own drink and cursed myself for not noticing him there.

"Hello again." I said with a smile. He didn't return it.

"Raspberry is kind of a doofy name isn't it?"

Emily frowned. "Be nice." She said. The man snorted and took another sip.

" _Reimi_." I corrected. "And I would still like to know your name."

"And I want a pot of gold. See, it's easy to want things Raspberry."

"Stop being a jerk _Shane_." Emily said putting emphasis on his name and I shot her a smile.

"It's nice to meet you Shane."

"You won't be saying that for long." He shot back.

"Is that a challenge." I asked raising an eyebrow.

"No that's a promise." A small chuckle escaped my lips as I downed the rest of my drink as quickly as possible. I dug into my pocket and set some money on the bar before tucking a few strands of loose hair behind my ear and walking away.

On the other end of the saloon was a pool table and a few arcade machines and in that area there were three people. The black haired boy was the first to notice me and leaned against his pool cue. He nodded towards me causing the blonde hair boy in front of him to spin around.

"Hi!" he said with a smile. "You must be the new girl around here. My name is Sam!"

"Yes I am." I said with a laugh. "My name is Reimi."

"Well that's different. I like it." The purple haired girl stood, gave me a big smile and walked over to me. "I'm Abigail and that unfriendly looking guy over there-" She pointed to the black haired boy. "Is Sebastian." The boy didn't look up as he shot another pool ball. From the looks of it he was completely destroying Sam. It was actually pretty sad to watch even though Sam is a good sport about it.

"So I noticed you were talking to the town drunk. How did that go?" Abigail asked.

"About as well as you think. He was kind of mean." I replied. Sebastian snorted while taking aim at another pool ball but he didn't look up. "Also his name is Shane."

"We know." Sam said. "We didn't know if you did though." Sam said with a frown, watching the ball ricochet before landing in one of the holes.

"Do you...always lose this bad?" I asked tentatively in an attempt to change the subject.

"Yeah he sucks." Sebastian said with a chuckle. The three of them laughed and continued to play for a while longer. I stayed and chatted with them and they were really nice people. Sebastian was a bit stand-offish but Abigail and Sam were really nice and invited me to hang out with them sometime. We exchanged phone numbers and headed out of the saloon together each going our separate ways. The fresh air hit me like a truck and i was starting to feel a bit sick. I dragged myself home, cursing my alcohol tolerance the whole way there before crawling into bed and going to sleep.

The morning sun filtered in through the window and gave me a headache. I crawled out of bed, wrapped myself in a blanket and stepped outside.

That was a horrible decision.

The bright light was horrible but the wind felt nice blowing through my hair. I sat down on the porch and let my feet dangle off the edge. The sun was still pretty low in the sky and after a few minutes of adjusting, it didn't bother me at all. The fresh air was probably the best thing about moving to the country and I could already feel my mood improving compared to yesterday. I started to recount the events and a small smile crept across my face before I returned to my house and took my medicine. After taking a quick shower I made a sandwich and wandered into town again.

The first place I went was to Pierre's store since there was a calendar in front of it and I wanted to see what events were going on this month. Shane and Emily's birthday were at the end of the month and only a week apart. I made note of it and finished off my sandwich as I whirled around and nearly collided with someone. Upon further inspection I realized it was the green eyed grumpy man. "Good morning Shane!" He rolled his eyes at me and groaned.

"You're way too happy."

"I am an adequate amount of happy." I shot back crossing my arms over my chest. "You aren't happy enough."

He let out an annoyed sigh and started to rub his temples. "I hardly know you. Why are you talking to me?"

"Because I want to be your friend Shane." I shrugged simply. He shook his head and walked around me quickly stepping over the cobblestone bridge where I stopped and watched him walk up to the building, shooting me one final glance before walking inside.

* * *

 **A/N: So this has been an idea that's been swirling around in my head for a while. I've been playing Stardew Valley for a little while and decided that I would try to turn this into an actual story. I'm not sure if i'll continue this but I hope you enjoyed the first chapter.**


	2. Hanging Out

About a week had past since then and I went to the bar just about every night and attempted to talk to Shane. It took a little while for him to do more than just grunt in my general direction but eventually we started having actual conversations. Thankfully, tonight was one of those nights.

"You're delusional. Mulan is the best _Disney_ princess hands down." He shook his head at my words and knocked back the rest of his beer.

"No. Jasmine is. She has a fucking tiger as a pet. A damn tiger! C'mon now." He popped open another one and took a sip. "You're an idiot. I can't believe we're talking about this."

"I am no such thing." I said with a chuckle, taking a gulp of the liquid in my cup. It was juice, apricot I think. Emily really liked it.

"Whatever Raspberry." He replied chugging the last of his beer and crushing the can in his hand when he was done. Emily made a 'tsk tsk' noise as she took the can away.

"How do you know so much about princesses anyway? What are you like a closet _Disney_ nerd?"

"I have a god daughter. Sometimes I watch movies with her. Sometimes they're _Disney_ movies." Shane stood and started to stretch, giving me a small smile and added. "Well my liver is begging me to stop so I think it's time to call it quits." I shot him a smile and stretched as well.

"You just don't want to lose this argument." I stood and started to head towards the door.

"In your wildest dreams." he scoffed following me outside. We talked for a few more minutes before waving and heading our separate ways. It was only 8 p.m. which meant that it was late enough for people to be home and asleep but early enough for me not to be tired. With a heavy sigh I decided to take a trip up towards the mountain since Abigail was crazy about it. She would have to forgive me just this once for venturing into the mine without her.

Making my way past Robin's giant house I noticed the lights were off which seemed a bit strange. They were just at the saloon for one and I also know that Sebastian is a night owl. With a slight shrug I headed over the bridge and into the entrance of the mines.

Taking a few steps inside the first thing I noticed was this odd smell. It was dark, dank and smelled of rotten milk mixed with mulch. I shook my head right before noticing an older gentleman standing near the ladder. He had shaggy gray hair that was short and a black eye patch. He gave me a bright smile before hanging me a rusty old sword. "You look like you're strong enough to challenge the mines!" His eyes twinkled as he spoke and he practically forced the sword into my hands. "Once you make it down to the tenth floor of the mine you'll be allowed into the adventure guild. Go forth!" He started to head towards the entrance and immediately turned on his heel. "Name's Marlon by the way. I run the guild with my buddy Gil." He turned again and headed out. I let out a small laugh that bounced off the cave walls and created this weirdly cool echo. Leaning the sword against my leg, I tied my hair into one long braid and descended down the ladder. The first floor wasn't so bad since there were only a few slimes and a great deal of rocks. I descended a few more floors and ended up finding some geodes and a few gems. Gathering all I could carry I ascended the ladder back towards the surface. My hands were pretty warm as I ran them through my hair and looked down at my watch which read 2 a.m. With a heavy sigh I dragged myself back home and went to sleep.

I awoke the next day feel sore and exhausted. Even though I slept it definitely felt like I hadn't. Dragging myself out of bed I made my way to the bathroom where I turned the shower onto the hottest setting and let out a satisfied sigh. The hot water seeped into my body and started to ease my tired muscles. If this is how I feel after just a few hours in the mines i'm terrified of how a full day was going to feel.

After washing off all the grime and dirt I turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. Wrapping a towel around myself I wandered around my house finding some clothes to put on so I could get dressed. I whipped up an omelet as quickly as I could and took my medicine with it. My hair was still pretty wet and incredibly curly from when it was braided and I've gotta say I totally like it wavy like this. I stepped outside and began working on my crops.

Hours passed or maybe minutes I wasn't exactly sure. I was watering my crops which felt like it took an hour and afterwards I started clearing out more trees on my farm. The sun was pretty high in the sky by now which meant it was a little after noon.

"Hey!" I shrieked and tossed a rock in the direction of the voice. There was a giggle and the sound of footsteps. "Did I scare you?"

"Yes Abigail! Yes!" I placed my hands on my hips and eyed her up and down. "It's very quiet here on the farm and I wasn't exactly expecting someone to sneak up on me!"

"I didn't sneak. Definitely walked." She laughed a little. "Sorry I scared you though." I rolled my eyes and saw her laugh again. Picking up my ax, I swung it a few more times until I felled the tree. "I was also thinking..." she started.

 _Oh no, it's not good when she has ideas_.

"That you, me, Sebastian and Sam can all hang out!" Raising an eyebrow I turned to her and leaned on the handle of the ax.

"See now that's a terrible idea." Abigail pouted.

"Well I think it's a pretty good idea."

"Except it's not." I picked up the ax and swung it over my shoulder. "And besides, Sebastian doesn't like me."

"But-" Abigail started as she fell in step beside me. "He doesn't hate you either." I rolled my eyes at her again.

"Yeah because that makes me feel so much better Abigail."

"It just takes Sebastian a while to warm up to people." She said looping her arm through mine. "He wasn't very nice when I met him either but as you can see we're really good friends now." Abigail was beaming at me and I couldn't say no to that smile. Well I guess I could but I don't want to think about the consequences. With a heavy sigh I nodded and she exclaimed her delight.

"Good. I already asked them and they agreed so you were going to have to come even if I had to drag you." I put my ax down and she pushed me into my house willing me to change out of my sweaty clothing before dragging me up the mountain trail and to Sebastian's house.

What a terrifying woman.

* * *

Sam was already standing outside the front door and noticed us immediately, waving enthusiastically until the other male looked up and nodded. His hands were in his pockets and he looked mildly disinterested. Sebastian led the way into his house and towards his room which was pretty much just a basement. It was incredibly dark and there were posters littered on the walls around the room. He had two computers, a book shelf, obviously a bed and a large table right across from it. To my right I noticed a radio and a couch next to it though the radio had some parts missing so i'm not sure how much use it actually was. My body immediately gravitated towards the bookshelf and got completely engrossed in reading the spines. Some of the books I hadn't heard about but a few stood out to me; _1984_ , _The Left hand of Darkness_ and _The Wind up Girl_ to name a few. I tucked some hair behind my ear and kept reading the spines completely ignoring everything around me.

"Hey Reimi!" A loud shrill voice reverberated into my ears and shook my body.

"Augh. Yes?! What?!" I called back annoyed, covering my ears. "Can I help you? Did the world explode?" I heard faint snickering in the distance and I felt some heat rise in my face.

"No. But i've been calling you for like 2 minutes and you've been off in la-la land!" Abigail shot back. "Look we're playing Solorian Chronicles. You're getting in on this action right?"

"N...no? I'm not much for...that. I just watch. Sometimes I'm the one who reads the book. What is that a dungeon master?" I turned around so I was facing them but didn't move from my spot on the floor. "If-if you don't mind I could do that instead?" I asked looking solely at Sebastian. It was his room, his stuff and his rules, I didn't want him to think I was trying to step on his toes. He was hesitant and stared me down for a long while before slowly handing the booklet for me to take. Scrambling to my feet I quickly grabbed it from his hand and sat down next to Abigail.

We played for nearly three hours with Abigail as the healer, Sam the warrior and Sebastian the wizard. The three warriors traveled a great distance to defeat the evil master mind who was enslaving the land. They traversed a large desert and crossed perilous mountains before finally reaching the demon's keep. They fought through hordes of enemies and by the end Abigail was injured. They carried her up the spiraling tower before reaching the evil mastermind himself. Sam charged forward and attempted kill him in one blow. The mastermind was one step ahead however and threw a spear forward which went through both he and Sebastian effectively killing their characters. Abigail being too weak to run away was enslaved and ended up being the princess of the new land.

I looked up from the handbook and noticed her staring daggers at me. "Are you serious with that?"

I shrugged meekly. "It's what's in the book." I said in a small voice.

"I would have rather _died_. _DIED_ then be turned into a princess."

"If it's any consolation, Sebastian would have been turned into a princess too if he had lived. The mastermind doesn't discriminate."

Abigail and Sam broke into a fit of laughter and Sebastian shot me a look. "I think you'd make a lovely princess." Abigail said in between breaths. I carefully handed the book across the table to Sebastian and stretched in the chair I was sitting in.

"Okay, ha ha you've had your fun." He stood and stretched himself. Sam, Abigail and I followed suit and Sam wrapped his arm around the other male's shoulder. "If you hadn't charged ahead Abigail wouldn't have been made into a princess though." Sebastian said with a sly smile.

"Oh that's right! Why didn't you just fall back like I suggested?!" For the first time since I met him, Sebastian laughed. It was kind of like this deep relaxing rumble that put a smile on my face as I watched him. Abigail started chewing out Sam as we slowly walked up the stairs out of Sebastian's room. When we reached the front door the other two parted ways and Sam shot us a pleading look before trudging into the town.

Sebastian pulled out a cigarette and walked towards the water's edge. I stood around awkwardly debating whether I should go back home or stay and talk to him. We weren't ever alone together and I was still pretty sure he hated me.

"You don't have to stand so far away. I won't bite you. Probably." He blew a puff of smoke out of his mouth and took another drag. I approached him tentatively. What did he mean probably? Was he a biter? Did he get his kicks from biting people?! I stood to the left of him and stared at the water's surface. It was so clean I could actually see the fish swimming around in it. "You didn't completely suck. I'm sort of impressed."

"Thanks...?" I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. "Thanks for letting me play. Really didn't think you were going to." He shrugged slightly.

"You seemed more interested in my bookshelf than anything else."

"Yeah I like books." He gave me a knowing nod and blew some more smoke out of his mouth.

"Maybe one day i'll let you read one." Turning towards him I noticed his lips turned up into a small smile.

"Careful, I might actually like that." I said with a chuckle. A peaceful silence fell over us for a few more minutes until he finished his cigarette and headed back inside. I followed in his steps and made my way back home. Halfway there Abigail sent me a message asking me to help her out with something tomorrow. Excitement coursed through me making it nearly impossible to sleep as I waited impatiently for tomorrow to come.


	3. Average Day

"C'mon Reimi, we _have_ to beat this level!" The 'thing' she wanted me to help her out with was playing Journey of the Prairie King. The moment I stepped foot in her room she shoved the controller towards my face. That was three hours ago.

"You can't blame me for this when _you_ keep dying!" I yelled back as I blasted through another zombie. "I'm carrying your dead weight."

"Oh whatever!" She stood up and her hair whipped me in the face distracting me for just long enough to get killed. I glared up at her and a smirk crossed her face. "Stop dying Rem, i'm carrying your dead weight."

Without breaking eye contact I tickled the back of her ankle. She laughed loudly and almost fell over right as she shot the last zombie. "We won!" she gave me a hug, knocking me flat on my back and then lightly smacked my arm. "You play dirty."

"I learned from the best." I winked at her and she laughed again. My eyes wandered up to the clock before I stood and fixed my clothes.

"Seriously? It's already so late?" She sighed. "Well tomorrow I have to go visit Sebastian so you should come with me." Abigail shot me a smile and I shrugged a bit.

"I dunno...we'll see." I replied with a weak smile, waving a bit before heading out towards the saloon. It was much quieter on weekdays and honestly a bit more enjoyable.

Slowly, I pushed the door open and my eyes immediately snapped to Shane who was sitting in his usual corner, chugging a beer. Upon closer inspection I noticed his eyes were bloodshot and he had deeper bags under them than normal. I was incredibly apprehensive and thought about leaving but Emily's face lit up when she saw me and I couldn't bring myself to walk out.

"Hi Shane." I said quietly taking my usual seat. He gave me a sidelong glance and took another sip of his beer. "H-How was work?"

"Shitty." He chugged the rest of it and crushed the can in his hand. I awkwardly tucked some hair behind my ear right as Emily came and put a glass down in front of me while replacing his beer.

"He's been grumpy all night." Emily said with a sigh. "Whenever I ask him what's wrong he just glares at me. Maybe you'll have better luck?" She shrugged slightly and walked away.

I've only been here about week, week in a half so how in the world did she think i'd have any luck. I took a sip of my drink and returned my attention to the green eyed man. "Is something...bothering you?"

He sent me and icy glare and downed the rest of his beer. "You're bothering me."

"Well that was a cheap shot." I mumbled behind my glass. Emily must be really optimistic or really dense to think that I would be able to get him to talk to me. With a small sigh I tried again. "Is your boss being a jerk?"

"If you classify 'jerk' as 'giant colossal asshole' then yeah. He's a jerk." He ran his hand through his hair, grunted and dropped some money on the counter before walking off. I watched him go more confused than anything and after a few minutes I followed suit and made my way back home. After a quick shower I wandered back outside to enjoy the nice spring air.

Laying down on my porch I stared up at the night sky in an attempt to gather my thoughts. I hadn't been here for very long but I was really having a lot of fun. I let my leg dangle off the side of ledge and took a deep breath. The air was much cleaner here than in the city and there was much less air pollution so I could actually see all the stars without the need of a telescope. I laid there for a few hours and finally allowed myself to think about my family. I moved here to get away from everything and forget but the thoughts still found their way back to me. They must miss me, I left pretty abruptly. Just as quickly as they had surfaced I pushed them back down and rolled over. It was late, I should sleep.

* * *

Morning came sooner than I expected and with it followed a splitting headache. The obnoxious banging on the door definitely did not help. I tapped the screen of my phone, it was around 9 which means I was three hours behind. Sighing, I rolled out of bed and almost crawled to the door.

"Reimi!" A cheerful albeit slightly annoyed voice called from the other side. "I told you I had to go see Sebastian today!" She exclaimed putting her hands on her hips. "And you haven't gotten anything done today!"

"Couldn't sleep." I mumbled scratching the back of my head and stretching. "I've got a lot of stuff to do and I'm already behind. Maybe another time." I heard her huff a sigh and turn on her heel before she walked away. Abigail was incredibly stubborn so I knew she would eventually make her way back here. Shaking my head, I dragged myself into the kitchen to take my medicine and took a quick shower before heading outside to get a late start.

The spring heat wasn't too terrible to work in and I managed to get everything done in a pretty decent amount of time. That being the case I took it upon myself to clear out more trees on the farm. It was a simple process; I cut down a tree, turned it into lumber and put it in a pile behind my house. Eventually I was going to have to build a shed for all of it to go but this would suffice for now.

Around the time I cut down the fourth tree I heard the thumping of very loud footsteps so I set my ax down and wiped my brow. I turned my head to the side slightly and saw Abigail standing there yet again and she wasn't alone. Sam was standing to the right of her with a wide grin on his face. Sebastian was to the left with one hand stuffed into his pocket as he took a long drag from his cigarette.

"All work and no play makes Reimi a dull girl~" Abigail practically sung causing my left eye to involuntarily twitch.

"I played with you yesterday." I raised my ax again and swung it down onto the tree trunk cutting it into a fourth. "I told you earlier that I'm behind." I swung the ax down again and two more times after that before burying it into one of the logs.

Abigail place her hands onto her hips and raised an eyebrow. "Gosh what's got your panties in a twist? You're acting...crabby." She was clearly annoyed but trying not to be rude.

I took a deep breath and scratched the back of my head. "I'm sorry. I just didn't get that much sleep last night." I gave her a weak smile before adding "I woke up with a headache and never actually addressed it." I wasn't lying well at least not completely. I noticed Abigail's features soften before grabbing my wrist and pulling me back towards my house.

"C'mon I'm sure you've got some headache medicine in there! Just take a shower and we can get going." I let out a heavy sigh and allowed her to take me back. Turning to look behind me I saw Sam and Sebastian trailing behind us with smirks on their faces.

"We'll wait out here just don't take too long okay?" Abigail gave me a smile as we reached the doorstep before sitting down on my porch and crossing her legs. Sam sat down next to her and Sebastian leaned on the wall next to my door taking a small drag and blowing the smoke in the opposite direction. He brought the cigarette to his lips again and paused shooting me a small glance. We held each others gaze and for a few moments I felt as though everything had stopped. I stood there staring into his eyes for a long time before breaking contact and pushing myself into my home, slowly closing the door behind me.


	4. Spending time

_Well that was strange_ I thought after shutting the door. Peeling my shirt off of my body, I threw it onto one of the empty boxes that littered the living room floor and dug a bottle of water out of the fridge. Most of my things had arrived earlier in the week I just hadn't gotten around to disposing of the empty boxes or unpacking the rest of them. Standing on my tip toes I rummaged through the cabinet for my medicine, running my fingers through my messy hair as I did so. I downed the entire bottle of water and my medicine with it, wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and darted into the bathroom. I took a quick shower hoping my medicine would kick in before I got out. As quick as I could I toweled myself dry and threw on some shorts and a t-shirt. With a small frown I twirled some damp hair around my finger and proceeded to open the door. I heard a small yelp and felt some weight on my feet. Looking down I found Abigail leaning against my legs with a goofy grin on her face.

"Perfect timing, Sam just left." I took a step to the side and shut the door while she attempted to stand and dust herself off. "Sam had some things to do so he went home." She stuck her thumb out towards the direction of Pelican Town and pushed some hair behind her ear. "So..." A wide grin crossed her face and I took a step back.

"Well I certainly don't like the sound or look of this." I knitted my brow and passed a glance at Sebastian who also had a look of discomfort on his face. Abigail however just shook her head and put her hands on her her hips.

"Look it's not that crazy okay?" She sighed and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "I just got this game and I was hoping you two would want to play with me."

You're acting as if we have a choice." Sebastian raised his eyebrow and looked his friend over.

"I _AM_ giving you a choice; you can either play it at my place or yours Sebastian." She then turned to me. "Unless you would rather play it in your own home."

I scratched the back of my head and looked out towards my farm. "I don't really have a t.v. in there so I think my place is out." _Not to mention my home is still boxtopia._

Abigail nodded and looked towards her friend. "Alright rock paper scissors for it."

Sebastian rolled his eyes and held up his hand. "Your place okay."

Another smile crossed her lips and she turned on her heel and headed off to her place with Sebastian and I following in step behind her. It was a nice day today, the sun wasn't beaming down that hard and there was a nice breeze going. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Sebastian run his fingers though his hair and stick his hands back into his pockets. Now that I got a closer look at him he had some deep bags under his eyes almost as if he hadn't slept last night. He caught my eye for the second time that day but averted his gaze just as quickly. I tilted my head slightly before bumping into Abigail who had stopped abruptly.

"Is everything okay?" I asked quietly. She looked over at me and wiggled her eyebrows.

"Yeah i'm fine! I'm just excited for the new game we're gonna play." She said with a devilish grin.

Abigail can be ruthless sometimes.

We ended up playing this four person co-op game with just the three of us and saying it was crazy is an understatement. Abigail was constantly throwing Sebastian and I off cliffs, running me into enemies and stealing my power-ups. Sebastian tried to stay as far away from her rampage as he possibly could but even he couldn't escape her tormenting tornado of torture. Why did I agree to this again? I definitely wasn't having any fun and getting more frustrated by the minute. We shared lives so why was she constantly tossing them off a cliff?! The controller was gripped tightly in my hands, heat rising to my face and hands. If she pushed me into an enemy one more time I was going to smash this controller.

"You know this is why no one wants to play games with you, right Abbs?" Sebastian said, annoyance laced in his voice.

"W-What are you talking about?" her voice sounded sickeningly innocent. Turning my gaze to her I saw she had tilted her head and knitted her brows. "4-player co-op games are super fun!"

"I think i'd have more fun watching paint dry." I picked up my controller and made my character run over and throw Abigail's off the cliff. Sebastian followed my example and soon we went from 13 lives to 6. A small grin crossed my face and I let out a small laugh as the heat slowly left my face.

"Okay! Okay!" The young purple haired woman held her hands up in defeat. "I get it. I'm sorry." She paused and bit her lip. "But now that you're all riled up the real mission can begin!" She stood up triumphantly and looked down at us. "My plan was to make you angry and then head to the rock quarry! Have you been to that place Reimi?"

"I've been to the mines." I said with a shrug. "Is it close to there?"

" _YOU_ went to the _MINES_ and _didn't tell me_?!" She hissed in a hushed tone.

"Well I didn't KNOW you wanted to go!" I fired back. "And it wasn't like it was a planned expedition anyway. I was just exploring and some old guy gave me a sword and told me to 'Go Forth!'" I said with an eye roll.

"Ugh!" Abigail plopped herself between Sebastian and laid her head on his shoulder. "I really really **_REALLY_** wanna go." She stuck her bottom lip out and gave me a sorrowful expression. She looked pathetic.

"Well why don't you?" I raised an eyebrow, curious as to why such a headstrong girl wouldn't go on her own.

"Because my dad is stuck in the past and thinks a girl should be home cooking and cleaning. Domesticated." She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. Pulling herself from Sebastian she stared down at the carpet so hard I was afraid she would burn a hole into it.

"You're pretty rash Abbs. He just wants you safe." Abigail turned her head so fast I thought it would spin right off. Sebastian winced and looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. "But that is a very backwards way of him thinking." He added rather quickly.

"I'm still a newbie. I don't feel comfortable taking you in there. Hell, I barely feel comfortable going in there. Something dangerous could happen to you and I'd rather not be exiled when I've just gotten here." I paused to turned my body so I was completely facing her. "Maybe when I'm more experienced we can...talk about it. It would be even better if you can convince your father. I'm not into having one of my business partners wanting to smother me in my sleep because I was the reason his daughter got hurt." I gave her a sheepish grin.

Abigail held my gaze and for the first time since I started speaking I saw a little glimmer of hope in her eyes. "So...so one day you'll take me to the mines?"

At that exact moment the door was flung open and there stood a disgruntled Pierre. I exchanged a look with the other two and we slowly got to our feet. "No, she will not be taking you to the mines Abigail." He said in the calmest voice he could muster.

"But dad-!" He held up his hand, cutting her off.

"You two can see yourselves out correct?" He gave us a sideways glance and we nodded slowly. I gave Abigail a small smile and wave before we walked ourselves out the door. Sebastian and I went our separate ways once we were outside; he headed home and I headed towards the saloon.

* * *

Shane was in his usual spot against the wall but he was much more far gone tonight then he normally was. I made my way over to him slowly afraid of startling him but the closer I got the more I realized he wouldn't have noticed me no matter how loud I was.

I sat down next to him and put my elbow on the bar, resting my head in the palm of my hand. His leg was shaking and his eyes were blank as he took another swing of his beer.

"Rough day?" I asked softly. He nodded and placed both arms on the table, knitted his brows together and he let out a shuddered sigh.

"I'd rather not talk about it." he ran a shaky hand though his hair. I put my hand on his arm and he flinched, quickly yanking his arm towards his chest. I pushed some hair behind my ear and turned my attention to the scratch marks on the table. In the short amount of time I'd known Shane, I hadn't seen him like this. I stole a few glances and noted how sunken in his eyes looked, the deep bags under his eyes and his slumped shoulders. He looked absolutely defeated which made my stomach feel funny. Was it guilt? Sympathy? Empathy?

We sat in an awkward silence for a while neither of us making an effort to talk to the other. Shane drank a few more beers and besides the occasional burp he was silent. His leg never stopped shaking under the table though his eyes grew more blood shot. I opened my mouth a few times to say something but no words came out. We sat there for another thirty minutes before Shane wobbled to his feet, placed some money on the table and wobbled out the door. I followed shortly after and fell in stride behind him. He shot me a few glances over his shoulder but otherwise kept wobbling down the street. It didn't take long until I had completely caught up to him so I chose to walk a few feet beside him deciding against trying to meet his eyes. We walked for a few more minutes and stopped when we got to Marnie's Ranch. The green eye'd man leaned against the door frame and turned to face me.

"Look," He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and kept a steady gaze on the stone steps. "I dunno if this is the alcohol talking or not but...thanks for sitting with me tonight." He paused. "And making sure I didn't fall into a ditch or some shit on my way back."

I felt my cheeks get warm and tucked some hair behind my left ear. "N-no problem." I paused to look at him through my lashes quickly noticing his cheeks were a bit more flushed than normal. The alcohol must finally be catching up to him which was all the more obvious when I saw him fumbling to find the right key for his lock. With a triumphant grunt he unlocked the door and slowly turned the handle. "Goodnight Shane." I whispered giving him a small wave. "I'm here any time you're too wasted to walk home on your own."

I saw the corners of his mouth turn up into a faint smile and he shook his head. "Fuck you." He opened the door and quietly shut it behind him.


	5. Sleeping Troubles

I rolled over onto my stomach and stared blankly at the medicine bottle in my hand while running my thumb over the raised letters. I turned it over a few times before letting it fall to the floor with hollow clank. Abigail hadn't shown up or messaged me in a few days. After the way her father blew up I didn't think she'd be getting out of her room unless she tried to sneak out through the window. I didn't dare go to Pierre's shop for obvious reasons so I hadn't left my property. If you asked me what day of the week it was I don't think I could tell you.

My eyes flickered up to the window and I yawned as I saw the pink and purple hues of the sunrise. Swinging my legs off the side of my bed I stood, stretched and cracked my neck. Rubbing my eyes I walked into the bathroom, turned the water to the highest setting it could go and stepped under it. The water was so hot it made me wonder if this was what it was like to stand near an erupting volcano. The heat of the water felt like a wild fire was licking at my back and limbs which felt amazing to my tired body. After a few minutes of alternating between washing and standing I stepped out and wrapped a towel around my waist. I yawned again as I walked over to my bed and laid back down. After about two minutes I heard the birds chirping in the distance and begrudgingly got up to start working.

The sun was high in the sky when my lack of sleep started to catch up with me. I couldn't stop yawning and I kept tripping over myself. Whenever I would start a task I wouldn't be able to focus on it long enough to finish it. Eventually I grabbed a water out of the fridge and sat on my porch staring lazily off in the distance. What _time_ is it? What _day of the week_ was it? How long has it been since I _slept_? I took a swig of my water and dumped the rest of the bottle over my head. How many days had it been since I've been to the saloon? Would anyone even wonder where I was? If I was okay?

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and tried to focus my thoughts. After a few minutes I opened them and saw something dark and scraggly scuttle in front of me. I scrambled backwards, shook my head and rubbed my eyes, carefully scanning the area in front of me. Nothing.

Okay so the lack of sleep was obviously getting to me. Stumbling to my feet, I pushed the door open and laid on my bed with my arm covering my eyes. Taking a break wasn't a bad idea considering how little progress I've made today. I let out a deep sigh and tried to relax so I could drift off into dreamland which unfortunately failed. The harder I tried to sleep the more it seemed to escape me. I tossed and turned getting more frustrated with each passing minute and sighing angrily. I just wanted to _sleep_! Why can't I sleep?!

I rolled over onto my back and stared up at the ceiling while my eyes wandering to the window. It was dusk.

What had I done with myself all day? I only managed to cut down one tree before I lost focus. How pathetic was that. I managed to plant a few seeds but not nearly enough. I had been up all day what the fuck had I been doing with my time?! Had I really been tossing and turning for three fucking hours?!

I gritted my teeth and rolled out of bed. "If i wanted to waste my life I would have just stayed at Joja Mart." I mumbled while slipping my feet into my shoes. I threw the door open and slammed it behind me taking off in a sprint toward Cindersnap forest. I ran as fast as my feet would carry me and kept moving even after stumbling a few times. I skidded to a halt as I reached a dock that overlooked a small pond and wondered to myself why I didn't remember this place. It wasn't a very secluded area but it was...peaceful. I made my way down the small dock, took off my shoes and let my feet dangle into the water. I looked at my reflection through the clear blue surface and grimaced.

 _Who is that?!_ I wondered. My skin which was once a beautiful shade of sienna was now a paler shade and my eyes were sunken into my skull like two small empty caves. Tentatively, I reached my hand down towards the pond and scooped up some water to splash onto my face. I heard slow lumbering footsteps behind me so I quickly stood and whirled around. Unfortunately I lost my footing and began to stumble backwards. Instinctively I reached my hand out to try and grab something to stop myself from falling and caught a glimpse of a hand reaching for me before I crashed into water. The pond wasn't deep but it wasn't shallow either. While sitting, I noticed the water sat just below my chest and that it was freezing for this time of year.

"Well damn." The person said as I scrambled to get out of the water. "Rough day." It was more of a statement than a question. I shook my head, let out a heavy sigh and climbed back onto the dock. Once my feet were safely planted I began to wring out my hair. That was when I noticed I had been sighing way more than usual today. Was I okay? I shook my head flinging water everywhere before finally remember that there was someone in front of me. The person in question cleared their throat and held something out for me to take which caused me to finally look up at them. Shane was standing there in his usual attire holding a single beer for me in one hand and a case of it in the other. I weighed the option for a few minutes as I attempted to get the of the water out of my hair as well as my clothes. Realizing it was a fruitless endeavor I swept my hair up into a bun and took the beer from him, taking my place back on the edge of the dock. Shane plopped down next to me and cracked open his beer downing it almost in one go and if I was being honest I was still amazed he could do that.

"I haven't seen you around town the past week." He said cracking open another beer.

"I-it's been a week?!" I exclaimed as I turned to him with a look of disbelief on my face. What the hell happened to my concept of time?!

He nodded to me and took a swig. "Emily was getting worried. Said she hadn't heard from you in some time." He swished the beer around in his can. "I told her you were probably fine and not to worry but seeing you now..." His voice trailed off as he gestured to me. "You look half dead."

I gave him a small shrug and looked down at the beer he handed me. "It's been a rough week." I said in a low voice as I was in no mood to argue with him. Popping the beer open I looked at the dark brown liquid sitting in the can as the foul odor drifted its way up into my nostrils. Shane held his hand out in front of me and I placed the beer into his palm.

"You don't drink."

"I was _advised_ not to." I tucked some of my midnight blue hair behind my ear and returned my hands to my lap. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him raise his eyebrow at me but didn't press the issue which I was thankful for. We sat in a comfortable silence for a long while and eventually he stopped drinking instead turning his attention towards the water. I felt my eyelids start to get heavy and I pressed my cheek up against his shoulder. Shane's body went stiff under me but I was too tired to peel myself off of him and instead mumbled some form of apology. He didn't respond but that's only because I think he was too petrified to move. He smelled like beer and body spray which was an oddly comforting assault on my senses.

Abruptly as if realizing the situation I was in, I yanked myself from him and quickly jumped to my feet. " Shit i'm sorry. T-that was rude of me I just...haven't..." my voice trailed off and I rubbed my neck sheepishly as I felt my cheeks get slightly warm. My eyes fell to the wooden boards on the dock which looked like they had been replaced relatively recently. I heard the familiar pop of another beer being opened and hear him chug it and crush it in a matter of seconds.

"When was the last time you slept?" he put another can to his lips and gave me a sidelong glance as he spoke.

"Would you believe me if I said I didn't remember?"

He snorted as he watched me grab a post on the end of the dock to attempt to stop my knees from wobbling. "Just sit down before you fucking hurt yourself."

I nodded and did as I was told and then Shane put one of his beers on my neck! My hands instinctively shot up and smacked his away while he laughed, tears forming in his eyes.

"It's not that funny you jerk!" I gave him a solid shove which only made him laugh harder.

"Holy shit!" He wiped a tear from his eye. "The face you made!" he pointed to me trying to talk in between his laughter.

I rolled my eyes and tried to hide the growing smile on my face as I crossed my arms over my chest. "Alright, that's my queue." I slowly got to my feet, paused, and shot him a look over my shoulder. "Thanks." I stared into his emerald eyes and he met my gaze. He gave me a slight nod while finishing off his beer before turning his gaze to the pond. I smiled slightly as I made my way back to my farm. I didn't realize interacting with him could be so tiring but I couldn't say I was particularly mad. I did need the sleep after all.

As I got closer to my house I noticed a figure pacing back and forth in front of porch. I rubbed my eyes but the figure didn't disappear but in fact got bigger as I approached.

"Reimi!" The figure called out and before I could process what was happening, it threw its arms around me and knocked me to the ground. "Reimi!" The voice was distressed. "I got into a fight with my dad and stormed out. I tried to call Sebastian but he wasn't answering! I didn't know where else to go!" Her face was streaked with tears and she had hitched breathing.

I rubbed my eyes, grabbed her hands and wobbled to my feet. "C'mon let's get you inside."


	6. Time to Clean

I didn't bring her into my home rather I brought her to the porch. We sat down and she recounted the events that happened prior in the evening. Apparently, there was a lot of yelling and property damage(mostly by her). Her father forbade her from leaving the house but judging from the fact she was right next to me, she didn't listen. I tucked some hair behind my ear as she laid her head on my shoulder. I nodded where appropriate and responded as needed but I couldn't stop thinking about sleeping. I was finally relaxed enough to fall asleep and as much as I like Abigail, I like sleeping a bit more.

"What should I do?" She looked up at me with a tear stricken face.

I paused and ran my fingers though my hair. "Unfortunately I must ask thee fair maiden to return to her castle and confront the king. You must be calm when you approach him as throwing a tantrum is unfitting of a princess! If you corner him he'll have no choice but to listen to you." I grinned slightly. "I am sorry but this is all I can do for you."

Abigail let out a small laugh and nuzzled a bit closer to me. "Gosh how long has it been since you've slept?"

"Holy shit I don't know anymore." I sighed dropping my head into my hands.

"It shows." She giggled and lowered her voice. "Thanks." She said softly. "I know we haven't known each other that long but I really appreciate this."

"It's no big deal." I shrugged slightly. "How would I be able to call myself your friend if I just abandoned you when you need me?" I felt her nod slightly before she got to her feet and stretched. "It's getting late I should probably let you get some sleep." Abigail gave me a bright smile and trotted back towards town. I watched her as she disappeared into the distance before retreating back into my home.

I laid down on my bed and tried to collect myself from this evening. After talking to Abigail I was wired and was going to have to find some way to calm back down in order to sleep. I pulled my phone off my makeshift night stand(it's just a box) and scrolled through my calendar. I had missed both Shane and Emily's birthdays and I felt a little bad about it. I hadn't known either of them for very long but I did want to do something nice for them to show my appreciation. I rubbed my temples and shrugged a bit there was always next year.

I started to scroll aimlessly through my photo gallery staring blankly at the screen that housed pictures of a life I was trying to forget. I could make a new start here. I _wanted_ to make a new start here. The longer I stared at the pictures the more memories that came flooding back. I closed my eyes once again, placed my phone on my chest and attempted to go to sleep.

The idle chirping of birds filled my ears a few hours later and I began to stir. I rolled over and my phone clattered to the floor causing me to groan. With any luck my screen hadn't completely shattered on impact since I really didn't want to have to send it in to get it fixed. Especially considering how much it could end up costing. At that point it would be more cost effective to just get a new freaking phone.

I wrapped my arms around my pillow and buried my face into it in an attempt to go back to sleep. Unfortunately it was too late and I was now up for the day. I sat up, ruffled my hair and took a good look at my room. In all the time I had been here I hadn't done much of anything but work and hang out with Abigail. My room had this faint odor that I could not and did not want to place and I had clothes strewn haphazardly all over the floor. There were still boxes stacked up in various places packed with miscellaneous things and dishes on the floor. I dropped my head into my hands as I tried to process how monstrous of a task I had thrown myself into.

 _Okay._ I thought. _It's not as bad as you think just do it a little at a time._ I slapped both hands to my face in an attempt to steel myself for the task ahead and got out of bed. I picked up my phone to inspect it and was thankful my case seemed to break its fall. The first thing I did was open all the windows in my room and the rest of the house. Once that was done I braided my hair in two very long pigtails and tied that into a bun before rolling up my sleeves to get started on the cleaning process.  
I gathered all of the clothes on the floor that I could find and stuffed them into one of the stray boxes I had littered around. After that I grabbed all of the plates, cups and silverware and dumped them into the sink in preparation for the inevitable scrub down. Pleased with the small amount of work that had been done, I went to go find a broom. During my search I ended up discovering another room that had a washing machine and dryer in it. The room was rather small and somewhat cramped with the only extra thing in it being a shelf. I was surprised my grandpa would even think about having one of these things. I had this distinct memory of him liking to do all of his laundry by hand but I guess even he got tired of doing that after a long day of work. I went back into my room to retrieve the box and dumped them all into the washing machine. Looking around the small room I found some detergent that(thankfully) wasn't out of date and used it. I made a note to pick some more up today when I went out, grabbed the broom and dustpan and retreated back into the living room.

I plugged my phone up to my charger and started to blare some music as I swept. The one thing I was super glad about living on this giant plot of land was that no one could hear me for miles. I was giggling to myself and even started to dance. My crazy dancing was short lived however and was interrupted by the buzzing of my phone. I walked over to the box I had been using as a table and grabbed my phone off of it.

 _Abigail: Hey~ I hope you slept well! I talked to my dad this morning and I think things went pretty well. Thanks for listening to me~_

I felt the corner of my mouth turn up slightly as I read over her words. It was a nice feeling. I shot her a quick reply and went back to cleaning. Afternoon rolled around quicker than I expected and I rubbed the back of my neck. I had managed to completely clean the house and wash all of my clothes. There were still a few things I needed to pick up and I was debating whether or not I should shower before or after going out. I caught a quick whiff of myself in passing and decided that taking a shower now was for the best. I probably shouldn't have let the problem get this bad in the first place. I hadn't even tended to my crops today. It was probably about time I invested in some sprinklers.

The shower lasted around ten minutes before I stepped out and toweled myself dry. I had let my hair down during the shower so how it was stuck to me and wavy. I dried it the best I could but eventually gave up on it and got dressed. Since I was still damp from my shower slipped on some jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt. We were in late spring and even though summer was approaching I didn't want to get sick. I made sure to grab my phone and earphones before stepping outside.

The sun was pretty high in the sky and the birds were still chirping loudly. I didn't miss the sounds of the city but these birds were something I could do without. Once I got into town though the chirping was drowned out by relaxed chatter. I twirled a piece of hair around my finger absently as I walked through the streets in an attempt to calm my nerves. Even just looking at the building brought back terrible memories so I did my best to look any and everywhere else. Eventually I came face to face with Joja Mart and frowned as I stepped into the building. Though I worked at a corporate office I got my start in one of the many supermarkets littered across the city. The dim lighting, the off color blue walls with the chipped and peeling paint and let's not forget the feeling of dread that emanated off of everyone who worked there. Everyone except for the store manager of course! When he saw me his face brightened and I tried to slip past him without incident. He was a short rotund man with black hair and glasses. He looked like he loved every minute of his job and it seriously creeped me out. _I know what i'm looking for please don't ask._ I begged while walking past him. In passing I gave him a small smile and a slight wave before darting towards the back as fast as my legs would take me.

I skidded to a halt in front of the T.V. section and walked slowly through the rows of CRT's and flat screens finally settling in front of one that I happened to like. It was a 55 inch similar to the one I had back home. Despite me coming here to get away it was sort of nice to have something that reminded me of home. Plus it was cheap and I already knew how well it worked. Now I just needed an entertainment center to put it on. I wandered the store for a bit longer in an attempt to find something that suited me. Usually I just shopped online but getting something delivered all the way out here would be more hassle that it was worth. I suppose I could just commission something from Robin but it would probably be super costly.

"What are you doing in here?" I nearly jumped at the sound of the voice and whirled around. Shane was standing there absently with his hand on the handle of a dolly and a confused expression on his face. He seemed to be hauling something heavy across the store. I sort of wonder what it is but not enough to ask. He was wearing a blue jumper uniform with a blue hat. Ah yes the uniform of despair.

"Is it so weird to see me in here?" I asked stuffing my hands into my pocket.

"That's not what I asked."

"I'm just picking up some things for my house." I shrugged slightly. "I was kind of tired of living in boxtopia."

He nodded once and went back to whatever he was doing. I watched him go before returning to my search for something to set my T.V. on. After about fifteen long and painful minutes of looking I finally found something. It was made of cherry wood and was large enough to not only fit the T.V. but whatever else I decided to throw onto that thing. I bent down, grabbed either end of it and made a conscious effort to lift with my legs. The one thing I failed to do however was read how much this thing weighed.

I planted my legs to keep myself from tipping over and rested it on top of my shoulder. Once I got accustomed to the weight I was able to walk it up front without much of a problem. Okay that's a lie this thing is fucking heavy but I had already made my decision! I kept walking making sure to keep my eyes forward so I wouldn't fall or bump into anyone. I managed to make it to the front and nearly dropped it on one of the closed lanes. I can't believe I can still _lift_ something that's sixty pounds let alone carry it halfway through the store! Plus I still needed to go back to get the T.V. but the thought of carrying that thing all the way back over here made me feel a little sick. I cracked my neck in an attempt to psych myself up and headed back towards the electronic section when I was stopped by the creepy manager guy. He sauntered up to me the smile never leaving his face and asked if I needed help.

"No I think i'm alright." I said as nicely as I could.

"Oh but you looked like you had such a hard time carrying that box! Why don't I have one of our _strong_ men help you?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you fucking serious?" I mumbled turning from him. I took a few steps forward and nearly collided with Mr. tall gloomy and blue. He was staring ahead with a blank look on his face. I turned and saw his boss mouthing something to him before walking off. Once the rotund man was out of sight he practically glared at me.

"What." he almost spat.

I stuffed my hands back into my pocket and avoided his deadly gaze but I felt his eyes boring into my face. If he had laser vision I'm sure i'd be dead by now. "Nothing." I managed to squeak out finally as I swerved around him. If I stood next to him much longer I was sure he would ring my neck. I don't know why he's directing his anger at me I didn't do anything. At least I don't think I did anything.

Not wanting to stick around longer than necessary, I quickly found the T.V. I had been looking at and tried to figure out a way to lift it. It was longer than my arm span so picking it up like that would be a hassle. The handholds on either side were there so it would be easier for two people to lift I imagine. Holding it by one of those and dragging it probably wouldn't be very good for the television or the ground. I put my hand on my chin and tilted it to the side as I tried to figure out a way to pick it up.

"This one right?" A familiar deep voice echoed beside me and without waiting for an answer he bent down and picked it up.

"Ah you didn't..." But he was walking away before I could finish my sentence. I followed behind him silently taking note of how visibly frustrated he was. He set the box down on the register with a despondent girl who had orange hair and disappeared again. I turned back to the girl and tried to make idle conversation but the look on her face told me she was dead inside. I stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before Shane returned with the box I had left on the other register. I manged to thank him but all I got in return was a grunt. With a sigh I paid for my items and was confronted with the unfriendly truth that I had no idea how in the holy fuck I was going to lug these home. I could carry the entertainment center home all on my own but the television I was most definitely going to need help with. The moment I slung it over my shoulder I felt one of my knees buckle on me and did my best to stay upright with it. As long as I didn't hear any of my bones crack I was sure i'd be okay.

Almost like an angel answering my internal dilemma, Shane appeared beside me in his street clothes and picked up the other box. I stared at him dumbfounded for a few seconds before I realized what was going on. He glanced at me before nodding towards the door. I started walking and once we were outside he fell in step beside me.

The air around us was so tense it was almost suffocating. When I tried to think of what to say I kept drawing blanks. Idle conversation was a hit or miss with him. He was in no mood to argue over the rankings of Disney princesses right now and honestly that was all I had. We didn't talk about much whenever we did happen to talk.

"Not that I don't appreciate it." I said finally. "But why exactly are you following me home?"

"Because I was ordered to." He snorted.

"Ah." I paused. "Your boss is an asshole."

"Sure is."

The short exchange was just enough to ease the tension floating around us and I felt a little calmer. I caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of my eye and saw how uncomfortable he was. His shoulders were hunched and he was clutching the box as tightly as he could. It was then I noticed that people were watching us. There was this hushed murmur among the townsfolk who looked away the moment I made eye contact with them.

"Don't they have anything better to do?" I mumbled tightening my grip on the box.

"Of course they fucking don't. This is a small ass town the only thing they _can_ do is gossip."

"This may have been a horrible mistake." I grumbled. If I attempted to run I knew that would look even more suspicious. _Okay just...talk to him. Hes's obviously just as uncomfortable about this if not more so why not try to take our minds off of it._

"The...box isn't too heavy for you right?"

"No." He said curtly.

"You're really not making this easy for me." I sighed and adjusted the weighty box on my shoulder. I started to stumble backwards and I felt him lightly place his hand on my back to keep me steady. When I looked over at him he still had his eyes on the road ahead of us.

Within the next few moments we were out of town and on the dirt road that led to my farm. I released a sigh of relief and felt my shoulders droop. I hadn't realized I had tensed up in the first place.

"I'm surprised you can carry that. Its weighs almost half of what you do." Shane said quietly.

"Well if I had longer arms like you I would have carried the T.V. but I'm fun sized so my arms are also fun sized!"

I heard him stifle his laugh as we continued walking forward. After what felt like another thirty minutes we finally made it to my porch and I fumbled with my keys and finally threw my door open. Shane went in ahead of me and set the box he was holding down before coming back to me and lifting mine off my shoulder.

"I'm sorry about the mess and thanks again for helping me carry this stuff back." When I looked up he was sitting down and opening the box with my entertainment center in it. Right after I shut my door I walked over to where he was and sat down on one of the boxes marked ' _books_ '. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Hmm...free installation with delivery huh? That means you're getting paid to hang out with me."

"I'm getting paid to put this together. You just happen to be here."

"Oh c'mon don't be like that." I whined. "We had a moment yesterday and that officially makes us friends. You can't get rid of me no matter how much of a dick you are." I shot him a smile. "Speaking of that, why were you glaring at me earlier?"

"O-oh that." He coughed and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Today was a short day for me. I was getting ready to leave when I ran into you."

"Well now I feel terrible."

"You should." I looked up at him and saw his lip curl up into a smirk before he tossed the instruction booklet at me.


	7. Sleep Over

"Are you sure you've got it?" I asked with a tilt of my head.

"Yes." He replied sharply. I was lying down on my stomach watching him out of the corner of my eye and reading the instructions to him. He was sitting off to the left of me with half of my entertainment stand sitting between his legs. Frustration glinted in his eyes while he struggled to figure out which part he still needed screw to the base. Every time I offered my help he replied in the same annoyed grunt. It sort of reminded me of this one time when my brother was about eight, he attempted to put together a small bookshelf himself despite my parents protests. A small smile made its way across my lips at the memory.

I felt the vibration of my phone through the floorboards and flinched before picking it up. Abigail had added me to a group chat that had been going on for a while. I put my phone down and turned my attention to Shane who was wearing a deep frown with his brow furrowed. "Did you connect board ' _A_ ' to board ' _C_ '?" I asked absently while flipping to the next page. A stiff silence fell over us as he reached over and examined two planks of wood. "That's why I told you not to peel the stickers off~." I mumbled while picking up my phone again. Abigail, Sam and Sebastian had already fired off quiet a few messages so I quickly scrolled to the top to get caught up. My phone vibrated almost immediately.

 _Abigail: Nice of you to join us! Sleepover tonight at Sebastian's?_ ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ

 _Sebastian: I never agreed to that._

 _Sam: C'mon it'll be fun! We could stay up all night!_ **｡^‿^｡**

 _Sebastian: I do that enough by myself already._ (¬_¬)

I chuckled as I read their banter. Eventually, Abigail was able to coax Sebastian into letting all of us spend the night. The problem of sleeping arrangements then came up. I volunteered to take the couch and let them fight among themselves for whatever was left. I put my phone down and turned back to Shane who had successfully finished putting my entertainment stand together. It looked awesome! It was this really nice cherry shade and had two doors on the side. I knelt down and opened it to see that both doors had two shelves inside of them! They were horizontal so I'd have to stack things on top of each other but I would still have a place to put my movies. In between both doors was a open space with a removable shelf and above that was an open area with two metal bars on either side and one in the middle to support the uppermost shelf. I looked up at Shane and gave him a big smile.

"It looks great! Thank you." He adverted his gaze and nodded, grabbing one end of it and lifting it up sightly. I scrambled to my feet to grab the other end and together we lifted it up and shoved it up against the wall opposite of where we were standing.

"That's your room isn't it?" He asked jabbing his thumb towards the door on the other end that was cracked. I nodded and saw a thoughtful expression cross his face. "You'd probably want to move this a little more towards the right if you planned to watch T.V. from your bed."

"That's a great idea!" I clapped my hands together and tilted my head to the side slightly. "Actually maybe it's not. I'd just end up being incredibly lazy." I chuckled.

He smiled slightly at my words. "So you'd never leave your room?"

"Chances of that are high." I said with a laugh. "I once stayed in my room for almost a week straight living on _Rice Crispies_ and three gallons of water." I followed him over to the box that held my T.V.

"That's gross." His tone aligned with his words but he had a grin on his face as he looked at me.

"I know! It totally was." I grinned back. "I had a good reason at least." I added the smile slowly slipping from my face. I was holding onto the box while he shook the it free. I could tell he wanted to ask a follow up but it seemed he quickly decided against it and remained quiet. After we were successful at dislodging my T.V. from its home, I walked in front of Shane and kicked all the stray pieces of Styrofoam out of his way. He set it down on top of my newly built entertainment center and reached around behind it so he could plug it in. He then turned to me, rubbing the back of his neck and keeping his gaze fixed on the floorboards.

"I've gotta go now, I promised Jas i'd do something with her and i'm already running late."

I felt a little disheartened but did my best not to let it show. I had interrupted his plans even if it was inadvertently. "Y-yeah of course. Thanks. Sorry to keep you, enjoy the rest of your day." I forced a smile and waved to him. His eyes flickered over and lingered on me for a short while before he turned on his heel and left. I reluctantly shut the door behind him and started to clean up the mess that was left behind. I pushed the box labeled ' _books_ ' up against the wall and decided that would be my makeshift chair from now on. I then gathered all the loose pieces of Styrofoam into one of the boxes and set it in the trashcan outside.

Upon re-entering my home, I checked my phone and began gathering my things. Abigail was adamant about meeting up as soon as possible now that she had her freedom back. With how her father reacted, I was surprised he'd let her spend the night out. A tired sigh escaped me as I stuffed a duffel bag full of my things and made my way north.

* * *

When I got to Sebastian's house, Abigail was standing in a circle outside the door with guys. A smile crossed my lips and I shook my head as I witnessed her exuberance. She waved me over when she noticed me and we all stepped inside, making sure to stop by the living room so she and I could drop our bags off before bounding down the stairs into Sebastian's room. I watched her excitedly talk about the things they were going to do. She made big gestures with her hands and laughed. I felt a pang in my heart but decided to pay no mind to it as I followed them.

Sebastian's room was a bit cleaner than it was last time which I attributed to the fact that Sam was going to be sleeping on his floor. I gravitated towards the bookshelf, picked a book up, sat down against his bed and started to read. They seemed not to pay much mind to me while they argued over what game to play. My eyes gravitated towards the area he had set up for us. He had a bean bag chair and a wooden chair set up in front of his monitor with controllers sitting in either of them. When I looked just past where the three of them were standing, my eyes rested on a controller resting on the table. It was black and red and once I took a second to think about it, I realized it was probably his personal controller. I returned to the book with a slight shrug. I had quite a few friends back home that had those, the 'off limits' controllers.

Sometimes, I would look up, occasionally noticing how their postures and demeanor would change and I frowned. The pictures I had looked at from the previous night came floating back to me. I frowned at the memory. When I looked at the three of them all I could see was my siblings and I. It made me feel homesick.

"Reimi." My head snapped up and I blinked. Abigail was trying to hand me a controller. "So are you cool with the decision?" I shrugged.

"It doesn't matter. I'll destroy you."

I saw something dark flicker in her eyes. "Is that a challenge?" She practically growled.

I put the book down and snatched the the controller out of her hand. Our eyes locked and I could feel the tension in the room. Did she really think she stood a chance at beating me? I plopped down in the bean bag chair and we started to play.

They had decided on a fighting game. Abigail didn't waste any time picking her I characters. She picked one of the guy shown in the 'how to play' demo and two girls. My eyes scanned the roster before settling on a woman with red hair who who looked to be a boxer, a younger girl with blue hair who had power over ice and an older guy with sunglasses. I smiled as I confirmed my characters. Having played quite a few fighters myself, I was positive I could beat her. She better be prepared to lose.

"You can back out now if you want. No one would judge you." She gave me this incredibly smug smile as she spoke.

I looked over at her out of the corner of my eye with an annoyed expression. "Just pick the order so I can kick your ass."

"Don't come crying to me when you lose." I rolled my eyes at her and leaned back in my chair. She gave me a look and leaned forward, determination burning in her eyes. We played best three out of five. I lost the first two and won the last three. Abigail was almost tangibly livid. The guys were sitting at the table on the other side of the room. When the match started, Sam was watching with delight while Sebastian had his chin resting in the palm of his hand with a smile beginning to grow on his face. Looking at them now, they looked a little scared. When I beat her they visibly shook, exchanged a look and backed away.

"Again!" She almost spat.

"Fufufu~ You think a mere child such as yourself has any hope of beating me?" I turned my head and looked down at her which only proved to make her angrier.

"Listen you old hag!" She yelled pointing at finger at me. I covered my mouth in an attempt to smother the giggles that were trying desperately to escape. "You think you're so good don't you?! Did you forget you lost the first two matches! I'm just getting warmed up."

"You're such a sore loser." I put the controller down. My words did not improve her mood and I had to do my best to keep my fits of laughter contained. Her face was a deep shade of red and her eyes looked like they could pop out of her head at any moment. She looked like an angry tomato. Abigail continued her tirade and I just nodded along until she calmed down. I think the guys made a conscious effort to let her win so she wouldn't do this again. At least that's what I gathered from watching them play. I wouldn't have pegged her as the competitive type.

They had set up a rotation and once everyone had played at least once, the controller ended up back in my hands. I was laying upside down on Sebastian's bed with my legs pressed up against the wall reading the same book. My hair was so long that it hung off the side of his bed. He leaned over slightly and looked at me with an amused expression.

"I bet you can't play like that." He said with a smirk.

"I bet you're wrong."

His smirk got even bigger as he walked over to his computer and switched games. I watched carefully while the game cycled through all of the developer logos until it landed on the splash screen. He picked a cart racer but not just any cart racer oh no. He picked one of the more skill based ones. He raised his eyebrow when he saw the horror slowly seep itself into my facial features. He was completely aware of the disadvantage he had put me in and he was thrilled. I was frustrated but didn't let that get to me. I had to win this battle...or at least not come in last.

"You fiend!" I exclaimed pointing a finger at him.

"What are you a 90's villain?" He chuckled, pulled up the bean bag chair to the left of me and sat down. "Be prepared to lose." I narrowed my eyes at him as we picked our characters. There was no way I was going to lose such an easy bet. I shook my head slightly. We picked our characters and started the race.

I lost the first one race, guess I shouldn't be so cocky. Saying it was difficult to play upside down was an understatement. By the middle of the second race however I seemed to get into the grove of things. I didn't beat him but I didn't come in last place either. It was hard to get down the timing of doing tricks and when to use items but by the time we got to the third race I was super pumped. I got to the second lap and heard a quiet buzzing in the distance but tuned it out. I crossed the finish line in three places ahead of him but contained my excitement. The only thing worse than a sore loser was a sore winner.

"Hey Reimi, your phone is still going off. You have a few missed calls from your mom." Sam picked up my phone and turned it so the screen was facing me.

"Toss it here." I held up my hand and caught it. I was trying to keep my nerves under wraps but I was kind of scared. Out of all the things I learned growing up the number one rule was; **_Never_** miss a call from your parents. The phone buzzed again and I reluctantly picked it up.

"Cariño, ya es hora de que levantes el teléfono. Estaba preocupado." Her calm voice floated into my ears. I hadn't decided if it was a good or bad thing yet.

"Lo siento mama," I sighed as I attempted to wedge it against my shoulder and ear. "Salgo con algunos amigos y me distraigo."

"Oh mija, estoy tan feliz que hiciste algunos amigos. ¿Cuando vendrás a casa?"

"Mamá," I rolled my eyes and chuckled. "¡No me fui hace tanto tiempo! Voy a visitar ... eventualmente"

"Oh antes de que me olvide, ¿has estado tomando tu medicina?" She asked in a concerned voice. I paused and bit my lip. If I lied to her and she found out, I would be in more trouble than if I had just told the truth. On the other hand she couldn't find out if I never told her...No! No. She would find out.

"No...no he estado." I let out a heavy sigh with my reply.

I heard an equally deep sigh come from the other end of the phone and winced. Was she going to yell at me? Threaten me? Both? "Está bien, ya que estás con tus amigos, te dejaré ir. Será mejor que me llames mañana, ¿entiendes? Te amo."

"Te amo." She hung up the phone and I released the breath I wasn't aware I was holding. I might be getting an earful tomorrow but I was off the hook for now. Was she disappointed? Probably. I had been feeling better lately so I hadn't taken it. Not to mention I was out of my sleeping pills(I should probably order more of those). Honestly I was surprised the phone call went that smoothly. I hadn't exactly planned on talking to her until the family reunion but knowing her she'd probably drive out here unannounced and make a big scene. I'd much rather have a phone call than to have my mother come to town and embarrass me. Speaking of which, besides the monitor in the room everyone else was oddly quiet. The race was over and now three sets of eyes were on me. I fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Are you alright? She wasn't mad was she?" Abigail asked with a tilt of her head.

"No actually which is a little scary in itself." I chuckled dryly.

"Where did you learn how to speak Spanish?" Sam asked curiously. I decided to sit up so I could answer him and closed my eyes tightly. My head was spinning and throbbing like crazy. All the blood in my head was currently trying to find its way to the rest of my body. I hadn't even thought of the repercussions of sitting like that for so long.

"My mom taught me." I said quietly. I rubbed my temples and kept my eyes shut. If I was lucky, this headache wouldn't last too long. "Can you guys not speak a second language?" I asked slowly opening one eye. They looked at each other and shook their heads. "Ah." I bit my lip and shifted rather uncomfortably.

"You won the bet!" Abigail abruptly blurted out. When I looked over at her she winked and smile. I returned her smile and glanced over at Sebastian.

He gave me an incredulous look. "No you didn't."

"What?" I raised an eyebrow at him. "You just bet I couldn't _play_ upside down. There were no other rules." Sebastian rolled his eyes and smiled.

"We didn't bet anything."

"Shit you're right." I mumbled. He chuckled just as Sam's stomach growled.

"Well since you guys are commandeering my house, guess I should feed you." He stood, stuffed his hands into his pockets and made his way up the stairs as the two others chanted _Food! Food! Food!_ behind him. I smiled slightly as I watched and quickly followed after them when my own stomach growled.

We wandered into the kitchen just in time to see Robin put a box of pizza down along with a pitcher of water and some cups. She smiled at us while handing us plates. "By how loud Abigail was screaming I figured you'd be hungry soon." She chuckled. "Now you know I don't mind you hanging out around here but it's getting late and I'd appreciate it if you kept it down." Abigail nodded at Robin's words as her ears turned pink.

"She's a sore loser."

"I am not." Abigail grumbled.

"You called me an old hag." I pointed out as I quickly finished my first slice of pizza.

"You called me a child! We're the same age!"

"Wouldn't that mean you also called yourself an old hag?" I raised my eyebrow as I spoke and saw her sink into her chair and pout. It was cute. I smiled at her and stuffed another slice of pizza into my mouth. The guys were sitting next to each other and chatting idly and Abigail opted to sit next to me. She was still pouting but I saw a smile slowly form on her face as she picked up her own slice slice. Nobody could stay mad while they ate pizza.

She scooted a little closer, pressed her fist against her cheek and gave me a nervous smile. "So what happened with Shane today? I heard he dropped by your house, are you alright?" I looked up idly while taking a sip water.

"Nothing. He dropped off my stuff and left."

"Nu-uh. I heard reports he was with you for at _least_ two hours."

I pinched the bridge of my nose and squeezed my eyes shut. How much did people in this town talk? Seriously. Abigail seemed fairly concerned about it. What kind of rumors were floating around about him to illicit this type of response? And who timed how long he was in my house?!

"He helped me set up my entertainment center and then left. He said he had something to do with Jas." I said finally.

"Set up?" She paused. "You know that's actually kind of sweet. I wonder what he had planned." She bit the inside of her cheek and looked up at the ceiling.

"Contrary to popular belief, he's not that bad." I scratched the back of my head. Abigail seemed to watch me for a few moments before ultimately dropping the subject. Asking him about the rumors directly would probably be for the best. I ran my fingers through my hair and stared blankly at the wooden floor. I heard so many things about him in passing but mostly just tuned them out. You can only hear _Did you know he was at the bar last night?_ so many times before your brain just turns off.

The guys finished their pizza and we made our way back down into his room. This time the three of them decided to play the racing game and I decided to just on his bed and watch. Sebastian's demeanor never broke but Sam kept getting frustrated. Have you ever seen frustrated laughter? Let me tell you it's really funny. His knitted his brows and pressed his lips together forming a hard thin line. Whenever something bad would happen to him he would let out a short, forced laugh. He looked deranged.

I watched them play all of the courses and Sam ended up being the first to drop out. He pulled out the air mattress and laid it down right in front of the bed. Since I had offered to sleep on the couch, Abigail had decided to sleep up there too so I wouldn't be alone. I told her I didn't mind but she insisted and I knew better than to argue with her. She absently turned down the monitor and continued to play. While she showed signs of exhaustion, Sebastian seemed like he was nowhere near running out of steam. She called it quits after a few matches and retreated upstairs narrowing our party down to two. I watched him struggle with a time trial race he was doing. After about the fourth failure my phone buzzed.

 _Sebastian: I don't bite you know._

I remember him saying something similar a few nights ago. Carefully, I slid off the bed and stepped over the snoring Sam and all of his appendages. He was sprawled out on the mattress with his legs sticking out of the blanket he was under. I managed to make my way over to the chair next to Sebastian and pulled my legs up to my chest. He proceeded to tell me he was still trying to unlock all of the characters and was having a slightly harder time than he was expecting. I slumped in the chair and stared blankly at the bright screen in front of me. My hair hand fallen into my face and was now obscuring one of my eyes which only made it harder to keep my eyes open. Sebastian looked over at me briefly and turned his attention back to the game.

"You used to live in the city right? Why did you decide to move out here?"

"I needed to get away." I shrugged. "Plus my job really sucked." I added with a hollow laugh.

"What did you do?"

"I worked at a corporate JoJa building. It's about as terrible as it sounds. Some weeks I would be forced to work for 48 hours straight and had to sleep in my office. Others..." My voice trailed off and I shuddered. "To say it was hell is putting it lightly." I added quietly.

"Sounds like it." He never took his eyes off the screen as he spoke. My eyes rested lazily on his character during our conversation. Sebastian was doing incredibly well for someone who was frustrated. Out of the corner of my eye I saw how tightly he was gripping the controller, his hands were moving with practiced precision. My gaze drifted up to his face and I quickly noticed his steely, unshakable gaze. I blinked slowly and rested my chin atop my knees. "You can go to bed if you want." He said quietly.

"I've probably got another hour in me." I yawned. "If you're okay with me staying that is."

"I wouldn't completely object to it." I saw a smile snake its way onto his face if only for a brief moment. He and I talked for a while but he didn't talk much about himself. I did manage to learn that he's a programmer and also that he spends most of his time in his room. I didn't go into much more detail about myself either and we ended up on a tangent about how loudly Sam was snoring. Somehow in the middle of that conversation, we drifted into talking about Abigail. A fondness flickered in his eyes as he recalled some of the mischief they got into as kids. It was obvious how close they were. I was happy that she attempted to extend the circle to include me in it.

I blinked and realized I was having a much harder time opening my eyes. Each time I blinked, my eyes stayed closed for longer intervals of time. I shook my head in an attempt to wake myself back up and quickly discerned it was futile. "I think it's time for me to call it quits." I yawned.

"I thought you had an hour left." He raised his eyebrow. "It's only been thirty minutes."

"I thought wrong." My chuckle quickly turned into a yawn which only made me chuckle again.

"There should already be blankets on the couch." He said softly. "If you need anything you can text me, I won't bite...probably." He added with a smirk.

I smiled and waved to him as I headed for the door. He gave me an acknowledging nod and kept his eyes on the TV. I dragged myself up the stairs making sure to close the door behind me and did my best to remain as quiet as possible. My duffel bag was on the floor next to the couch so I dug through it to find some clothes to put on. After successfully retrieving some shorts and a tank top to put on I laid down, pulled the blanket up to my chin and managed to drift off.

* * *

 ** _A/N: I used Google translate for the Spanish so I apologize if it's a bit off._**


	8. No Sleep Tonight

I jerked awake and looked around wildly, my hair whipping across my face as I did so. _It was a dream_ I told myself. _You're fine. You're at Sebastian's house._ I sat up and saw Abigail sleeping soundly on the couch across from me. Thankfully I hadn't woken her up. I dropped my head into my hands and let out a few shuddered breaths. My forehead was beaded with sweat and my body was so hot it I felt like I was sitting in a fire. I ran a shaky hand through my hair and twirled a few pieces around my fingers in the hopes it would calm me down. A nightmare. I hadn't had a nightmare since I moved out here. Out of everything, It had to be about _that_. I let out a few more shaky breaths and tried to focus my thoughts on the ticking coming from the clock in the room. With each resounding _tick_ , a new image flashed into my mind. I squeezed my eyes shut and covered my ears in a desperate attempt to make it stop. I had to get away from this stifling room. I needed fresh air.

Carefully, I slid off of the couch and made my way through the living room doing my best not to wake up sleeping beauty. My legs felt like jelly and I wobbled all the way to the door. When I got there, I slowly turned all the locks, praying they wouldn't made noise as they clicked open. I pushed the door open and closed it quietly behind me, waiting to hear the 'click' of the door before heading to the left.

There was this giant river near the mines that I had saw on my last trip here. I sat down in front of it, squeezed my eyes shut and dunked my head in. The scenes flashed before me yet again as if etched into the back of my eyelids. I whipped my head up and head the loud 'plop' of my hair smacking onto my back. I shuddered almost immediately and sighed. At least I wasn't hot anymore. I sat by the waterside and watched fish swim slowly under the water's surface. I guess it was just wishful thinking on my part. I thought coming out here would be the change I needed. I thought, no, _hoped_ I would be able to put the past behind me. No one knows me here, my grandfathers plot of land was so big I could get lost on it plus, and I can't stress this enough; **_no one knows me here._**

I sighed again and wiped some water from my face, my gaze drifting towards the entrance of the mine just a few feet away from me. The deep darkness seemed almost enticing to me. _No it's late._ I thought. _What if something happens to me down there? They wouldn't find my body._ My shoulders slumped as I scooted a little closer to the edge and put my legs into the water. I heard footsteps approach slowly and quietly, stopping just short of me. I didn't look up. A lighter flicked open and I heard the mechanism in it activate. A few moments later I heard it close and silence filled the air.

I kicked my legs in the water and slowly swayed from side to side.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asked finally.

"No." I answered quietly.

"Me either." He took a drag from his cigarette.

"To be fair, you don't look like you sleep much anyway."

"That was a cheap shot."

"I know." I tilted my head so I could look up at him. The corner of his mouth had curved up into a small smile and he stuffed one of his hands into his pocket. "You know, I think this is the most we've talked since we met."

"Did you think I was the weird quiet kid?"

"Have you seen yourself?" I chuckled softly and pulled my legs out of the water. "I didn't though. I just didn't think you liked me very much." I started to wring out my hair and shirt. Luckily my top was just mildly damp and not soaking wet like my hair so it wouldn't take as long to dry. I started to braid it and I took a few more deep breaths to try and steady myself. There was no way I was going to be able to get back to sleep. Every blink brought me back to that dream, I could almost hear the blood-curdling scream in my ears.

"I just didn't know you." He took another drag. "Abbs likes you an astounding amount so you can't be too bad."

"Doesn't Abigail like everyone?"

He turned to me with a confused look on his face and, upon seeing my serious expression he burst out laughing. "God no. She's nice to everyone but she definitely does _not_ like them all." He grabbed his sides and started to laugh even harder. His deep soothing laugh filled the air around us. "Holy crap." He gasped. "I needed that thanks." He dropped his cigarette, ground it into the dirt, knelt down and picked it back up. "I'm heading inside." He looked over at me, a smile lingering on his face.

"I think i'll take a walk, i'm still not tired." I patted my pockets to make sure my phone hadn't fall out into the couch. "If you're not awake when I get back i'll just sleep on the ground." I shrugged. He stared into my eyes for a few minutes before shrugging as well as shaking his head. I gave him a small wave and walked past him, making my way down the path towards the community center.

The town nearly silent with only the babbling of the creek to keep me company. I felt this growing sense of dread as each streetlamp I passed dimmed. I hugged my arms closer to my body and made sure not to look back. My footsteps echoed against the cold cobblestone while I walked through the streets, reminding me that I was very much alone here. I thought the silence would be welcomed but it only served to make me more uncomfortable. My eyes darted around the empty streets and despite myself, I turned around. Everything behind me was covered in the shroud of night. I felt my heart jump into my throat as I searched the darkness hoping for a light to turn on. None did. I whirled around and quickened my pace and headed towards Cindersnap forest.

It was just as quiet here as it was in town but for some odd reason it felt much less lonely. In the distance I saw a black bricked leaning tower. It looked dilapidated but the lights were on so someone _had_ to be living there. I hoped someone was living there...I shuddered again and looked away.

I walked over to the dock I had sat at with Shane before.

Shane...

I hadn't known him very long but it really _b_ _others_ me how judgmental they were. Sure he was a quiet asshole with no filter but he wasn't _that_ bad, at least not as bad as they're painting him to be.

I sat down on the dock and laid on my back with my feet dangling off the edge, hovering just above the waters surface. There was no use stressing myself out about this...at least not yet. A light breeze blew by and I wrapped my arms around myself and started rubbing my arms. I was quickly reminded I wasn't dressed for this weather and my skin and clothes were still damp from before. I patted my pockets with one of my hands and cursed myself for leaving my keys at Sebastian's house. I wonder just how bad it would look if someone saw me trying to break into my own house. I laughed silently and the thought breaking a window and trying to claw my inside. This was a very good reason to get a back up key made and hide it somewhere around my farm. When I lived in the city I locked my keys in my car and had to walk back home, get my spare keys and walk back to my car to unlock it. Luckily it was during the day in the spring so my sister offered to walk back with me. I sighed fondly at the memory and pulled my phone out of my pocket so I could scroll through some old pictures.

I scrolled down to my favorite holiday album and couldn't stop the smile from spreading onto my face. During the fall my family and I had taken a trip to the beach. All of the small ̶c̶r̶e̶a̶t̶u̶r̶e̶s̶ children were back in school so the beach was pretty much cleared. I never realized just how many photos I had take, there were at least 36 alone of just the ocean. I smiled as I scrolled through all of the pictures(187 of them). When I reached the end of the album I locked my phone and took a deep breath. I think I had finally calmed down enough to at least _try_ to get some sleep. I rolled over onto my my side and got to my feet, twisting side to side so I could crack my back. With a sigh, I rubbed my arms and trudged my way back through town and up towards Sebastian's house.

Before I pulled out my phone to text him, I thought it would be good to wash my feet off in the river first. I had been walking around in dirt and on _very_ cold cobblestone without shoes on and I didn't want to track that back into the house. The spot I had been sitting in previously was still wet so I just plopped down next to it and dipped my feet into the now freezing water. I shivered and yanked my feet out as quickly as I could. I pulled my feet under me hoping that the heat from my body could warm them before I went back inside. My body began to shake as another cold breeze blew by and I hugged my arms close to myself. If I kept rubbing them as hard as I was right now I was liable to start a fire. _Think warm thoughts_ I told myself.

As if some higher force had been listening to my plight, a warm and heavy blanket fell on my head and I wrapped it around myself without a second thought. The familiar sound of a lighter sparking sounded behind me and a small smile made its way to my face.

"You looked cold."

"Thanks." I pulled the blanket tighter around me and snuggled into it. "Why is it so heavy though?"

"It's a weighted blanket."

Sebastian stood to the left of me and took a long drag of his cigarette. I looked up at him curiously and hugged the blanket closer to my body. His eyes were dull as he stared off into the darkness, seemingly lost in thought. It was clear to even the most untrained eye he hadn't slept in a while. Had he waited for me to come back? _Pfft. Yeah right, let's not get full of yourself now._ He pulled the cigarette out of his mouth to blow out the smoke and caught my eye, raising his eyebrow curiously.

"How long have you been awake?" I blurted out.

"Long enough."

"You don't sleep much do you?"

"No." He put the cigarette back to his lips and took another drag. "The smoke doesn't bother you?"

"Not especially. My brother smokes so I got used to it." I looked down. "So if you need someone to stand out here with you so you won't be lonely I've got you covered." I said quietly. I wasn't sure if he heard me but I did genuinely mean what I said. Besides, it was a chance for me to get to know him better.

Sebastian once again dropped his cigarette on the ground and smothered out the flames that remained. As he knelt down to pick the butt back up I wobbled to my feet. I wasn't as tall as the blanket was long so it dragged across the ground when I started to follow him towards the house. As soon as I noticed this, I grabbed it and hiked it up as far as I could and continued to walk behind him. Sebastian pushed the door open quietly, turning his head slightly to make sure I was still behind him. When he saw me he chuckled and shifted slightly so I could walk in front of him. I dropped the blanket once safely inside and made my way over to the couch while he locked the door. I sat on my makeshift bed and laid down quietly, listening to the rhythmic sounds of his footsteps as he walked down the stairs into his room. Once I heard his door shut I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

 _T_ _ick_. _Tick._ _Tick._

The sound of the clock reverberated through my body with each obnoxiously loud tick. I had rolled over many times but couldn't get that incessant ticking noise out of my head. It was an old grandfather clock so it wasn't like I could take it off the wall and chuck it across the room. I grabbed one of the pillows that had been left for me and shoved it over my ears hoping to at the very least muffle the sound. I regret to inform it didn't work. If my lack of sleep didn't kill me the headache I was going to get from this clock was certainly going to. It hadn't been this loud when I laid down before so what was different now?!

 _Tick. Tick. Tick._

 _Tick. TICK. **TICK**._

My body bolted upright and I leaned over and rummaged through my duffel back for my headphones. I can't tell you how excited I was when I found them, I didn't think I had remembered to pack them. I hurriedly plugged them into my phone and pulled up a few videos to watch. Hours past before I even remotely felt sleepy and even when I _did_ , closing my eyes didn't bring me any closer to the sleeps sweet embrace. I heard stirring and hurried footsteps behind me but made no motion to move and check.

"Hey, it's time for breakfast!" Abigail's voice interrupted my video and she shook my arm. I groaned and my eyes glanced up at the clock. It was 7:30 in the morning and I hadn't gotten more than a few hours of sleep. If you could call it that. I felt more exhausted after that nightmare than I would have felt if I just hadn't slept. After a few beats of silence, I sat up, stuffed my phone into my pocket and wrapped the heavy blanket over my head. With a sigh I forced myself to stand and shuffled my way over to the table where Abigail and Demetrius were sitting. Sebastian and Sam hadn't come upstairs yet and Robin was in the kitchen making breakfast.

I picked a chair on the left side of the table next to Abigail and plopped down into it. The table was covered in a pink table cloth that had a white vase sitting in the middle of it. In front of each chair was a white circular place mats with a fork and knife on either side of them. I turned my attention back to the vase and stared at it for a few seconds, chucking when I noticed the flowers were made of wood. They were yellow and beautifully painted, had I not known any better I would have thought they were real really highlighted how incredible Robin was at carpentry.

Demetrius cast a slightly disapproving gaze at me. "Blankets aren't allowed at the table." He said shortly. My tired eyes found his deep brown ones and I let out a weak sigh, _it's not worth it._ I thought and rolled up the blanket, tossing it lazily across the room. It landed haphazardly on the couch and I noticed him eyeing me with an annoyed gaze. "Does everyone from the city dress like that?" He nodded towards me.

"Does it matter what people in the city dress like? It's not like you live there." I tucked a few stray strands of hair behind my ear and sighed. Since when are tank tops and shorts frowned upon? It wasn't like breasts and _culo_ were hanging out.

Sebastian and Sam emerged from his ̶d̶u̶n̶g̶e̶o̶n̶ room a few moments later and sat across Abigail and I. Demetrius's eyes flickered from me to them and seemed to settle on Sebastian. The only person left was his sister. I couldn't remember her name but I had seen her around from time to time before I shut myself in my house for a week. I furrowed my brow and frowned as I attempted to remember her name.

"Hey!" A girl bounded in with a pleasant smile on her face. She gave Demetrius a quick peck on the cheek and took a seat next to him.

"Hey sweetheart." A warm smile crossed his face as he looked over at her. I blinked slowly and pressed my cheek up against my hand. Abigail nudged me ever so slightly and my elbow skidded across the table. She covered her mouth and turned away, trying to hide her laughter. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Sam holding his sides while he hung his head and Sebastian had his eyes squeezed shut with his chin resting in his hand. They had both witnessed me almost slipping off this damn table and found it oh so hilarious. My eyes shot up and much to my relief, Demetrius was off in his own world, chirping happily away about god knows what to his daughter. The fuck was her name again?

I rubbed my eyes in a futile endeavor to wake myself up and tried to gather my thoughts. I was so exhausted I didn't know if I was going to be able to focus on anything. I slowly opened my eyes again and rested my chin in the palm of my hand. I stared blankly at the table for what felt like an hour before my eyes slowly fluttered shut again.

"Well well good morning everyone!" Robin's cheerful voice pierced the room. I reluctantly pried my eyes open again as she set plates down with pancakes, eggs and bacon. I hadn't specified what I wanted so she just gave me water. My brain was on autopilot as I picked up the fork and started to stuff food into my mouth. I wasn't even sure if what I was eating was good but it was food.

"Wow you look exhausted." Robin said with a smile. "Guess you guys had fun last night huh?"

"Probably stayed up all night playing video games." Demetrius said, disgust highlighting his tone. Robin shot him a look.

"Everyone crashed pretty early actually." I twirled the fork around in my hand. "The very **_loud_** ticking of the clock kept me up all night. Appreciate the assumption though." A deathly uncomfortable silence fell over the room but I was far too tired to care. I was going to attribute this to my exhaustion getting to me. I understand not liking something but there was no reason to throw in a snide comment like that. I was only rude because he was rude first, that was my justification. I ignored the silence I had summoned and returned to juggling staying awake with stuffing my face. Forks were dangerous objects to people tired people.

"The clock huh?" Demetrius cleared his throat which did nothing to ease the tension in the room. I could tell from his tone he didn't buy my story. Joke's on him I didn't care if that v _iejo_ believed me or not.

"Yes, the loud, _**t**_ ** _icking_** grandfather clock."

"I know what it is." He snapped. "I just think it's a pretty convenient excuse. It didn't seem to bother Abigail at all."

"If I was up all night playing video games I would just admit it. I have nothing to prove to you. Abigail is a heavy sleeper, I don't even think one of your 'experiments' could wake her up." I took another bite of food. "Sebastian kicked me out of his room ten minutes after Abigail went to bed and told me he needed to sleep." Obviously part of that was a lie but I already didn't like this guy. He's been jabbing at me since I sat down. If he had just left me alone in my blanket fajita all would be well.

Before I could say another word Abigail elbowed me in the ribs without giving me so much as a glance. I rubbed the spot she had hit me but got the hint. I cast my glance down and continued to eat silently. Sebastian's sister spoke up and began to talk about the next project she was working on almost immediately eased the tension in the room. Demetrius looked over at her and his demeanor changed so fast it felt like whiplash.

I remained as quiet as possible even after I had finished eating. I caught Robin's eye once during the meal and she held an expression I couldn't quite read. It looked like a cross between apologetic and irritation. Sebastian and I had also locked eyes once during the meal and he held a much softer expression than usual.

Once breakfast was over, I slipped out of the dining room and made my way downstairs into Sebastian's room. Placing my hand on the knob, I quietly turned it with the expectation that it would be locked but was thankful it wasn't. I pushed the door open and stepped into his room making sure to be careful as I made my way towards the bean bag chair I had been sitting in hours ago. After I sat down, I shimmied until I was comfortable and closed my eyes. I didn't think I was going to fall asleep but my eyes were burning from being open, they needed rest. I definitely could have handled that exchange with _ese viejo rudo_ better. Robin didn't look too happy but she didn't yell either so i'll take it as a good sign. She doesn't know me very well and she could have easily told me to _patear rocas_ and get the fuck out but I'm glad she didn't. I heard the door open and the shuffle of footsteps before it shut again. I sighed and decided to keep my eyes shut. The irritation in the air was almost palpable.

"Why?" She asked simply.

"He was rude."

"I know he wasn't exactly the best but you're a guest here."  
"A tired guest." I shook my head slightly. "I thought you were supposed to be polite to guests."  
"Reimi." She sighed. "I had to do some damage control after you damn near teleported out of the room like that. Robin isn't too mad but you're on thin ice with Demetrius."  
"Maybe I should just save myself the trouble and break it now."

"Reimi." She warned.

I finally opened my eyes to see her standing in front of me with her arms crossed over her chest. From my peripheral, I noticed Sebastian and Sam sitting at the table, eyeing me.

"Fine, fine, I'll be good." I scratched the back of my head and looked away from her. "Aunque desearía que no fuera tan idiota." I mumbled.

"Just because I don't know what you said doesn't mean it wasn't rude."

"Sorry you had to apologize for me." I brushed her comment aside.

Abigail sat down in the chair next to me and smiled. One thing I really did like about was she didn't stay mad for very long. One look at her face told me she was back to her normal cheery self. "You're forgiven. That's what friends are for." She leaned back in the chair and tilted her head to the side. "I've gotta ask though, out of all the times we've talked, you've never once spoken or alluded to the fact that you could speak Spanish."

"Wow allude, that's a big word, i'm surprised you know it." Sebastian chimed in from across the room.

"Rude!" she shot back. "I do read books you know!"

"I wouldn't exactly call reading the backs of game cases 'books' but whatever you say." I chuckled at the two of them so she gave the bean bag chair a swift kick in response.

"If this is how you treat your friends, i'd hate to be you enemy." She shot him a toothy smile and returned back to me, eagerly awaiting my answer.

"It never came up." I said with a shrug. Sam and Abigail exchanged a glance before they turned to me with a passive smile. They didn't believe me.

"This is such a small town, I didn't want to stand out any more than I already do." I learned at a very young age that it's best not to give people a reason. People grasp onto anything they can and hold it against you. They seem accepting of me now that they've gotten to know me but what if they hadn't? What if they took one look at me and decided I wasn't worth associating with? What if they were only hanging out with me because they felt sorry for me? What if...

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Anyway, what's the deal with Demetrius? It's clear he doesn't approve of video games, anything else I should be aware of?"

"Well he doesn't approve of me." He said darkly. "Long as you're nothing like me you should be fine." There was a stinging bitterness in his tone I hadn't heard from him before. I looked at his other two friends and saw them advert their eyes. It was obvious from their expressions that this wasn't new revelation. I racked my brain for something to say but kept coming up short. I didn't know him well enough to disagree with the statement, especially considering my first impression of Demetrius wasn't a good one.

"Uhh so Abigail, what did you have planned for today?" Sam asked awkwardly.

"I hadn't thought about that." She stretched her arms over her head. "I'm just so happy to have my freedom again, being cooped up inside all that sucks." She turned to me. "You have no idea how lucky you are living on your own! No rules, no one to tell you what to do, it must be great."

"Yeah it's something..." I trailed off while starting to undo the braid in my hair.

"Better than having your dad nag at you every five minutes. Seriously he drove me insane! I couldn't wait to get out of there. I _almost_ climbed out of my window."

"Oh yeah I remember you telling me about that." Sam laughed. "You even asked me to bring you a ladder."

"I was serious!" She pouted. "If I tried to jump out the window I probably would have broken something!" They went back and forth like that for a few minutes as I combed through my hair with my fingers. My hair had been braided for so long that it was incredibly wavy. For a couple of seconds I contemplated braiding it again because I did not feel like dealing with it. My hair was so long that I really couldn't do anything besides braid it or put it into a ponytail. I ran two fingers to the ends of a piece of hair and inspected the split ends. I was long overdue for a trip to the salon, i'd probably fuck it up if I tried to do it myself.

"Hey Reimi?"

"Hmm?"

"Why'd you dye your hair blue?"

"It's my sisters' favorite color." I took a few strands and twirled them around my fingers absently. "It's about time for me to get it dyed again. It used to be much darker."

"Wait you're not an only child?!"

"N-no...?" I could have sworn I mentioned it.

"I thought I wasn't the odd one out anymore! Ugh, wouldn't it have been cool? The guys are older brothers and we'd be the lone wolf only children." She sighed. "Are you at least the younger sibling?" She asked in a defeated tone.

"Would it make you happier if I said yes?"

She rolled her eyes at me and scratched the back of her head seeming to get lost in thought. It was still early enough in the day that we could still do whatever she wanted but I still had to call my mom and I was not looking forward to that. I could probably ask her to fill my prescription and then just send them this way instead of me going all the way out there. There was no way I was going to refill them here.

"Whatever you decide Abigail, you should do it soon. I've gotta try to get some sleep before work."

"You work on your computer though, can't you just do it while we're here?"

He gave her a look that said 'we've talked about this before' and sighed. I looked between the both of them and then at Sam who was engrossed in his phone. Abigail's brow knitted and she clicked her tongue in frustration.

"I also need sleep." I yawned. "I've been running on non-existent fumes."

"Ah crap! I forgot I switched shifts!" Sam yelled suddenly, jumped to his feet and grabbed his bag. "I'm sorry, I've gotta go guys, i'll text you later!" And just like that he was gone. I got to my feet and stretched my arms over my head until I heard a loud _pop_ and lowered them. Abigail's head hung low with a defeated look on her face as she stared blankly at the floorboards. I looked up and saw Sebastian already at her side with his hand on her shoulder. He said something to her in a low voice that I couldn't make out and her expression immediately brightened. A giant smile crossed his face and I took this opportunity to slip out of the room once again. I wasn't needed here. I walked upstairs as quietly as I could and made my way over to the couch I had been sleeping on. The blankets I had been using were strewn haphazardly across it so I took this opportunity to neatly fold them before grabbing my duffel bag and heading towards the front door. Robin was standing at the counter lazily flipping through a catalog with her chin rested in the palm of her hand. She saw me before I managed to slip by her and nodded towards me.

"Sorry about this morning." I squeaked out uncomfortably.

"Abigail explained what happened. I know Demetrius can be a bit particular but he means well." She bit her lip.

"I'll do my best not to antagonize him." She nodded towards me returned to her magazine seeming happy that this conversation was over. I walked out of the front door and headed to my own home.


End file.
